United States Attorney Brendan Johnson has established himself as an advocate for Indian country. He has worked to gain a better understanding of the culture and history of South Dakota’s Native American population.
US Attorney Johnson discusses Pine Ridge and Indian country
By Brandon Ecoffey
Native Sun News Staff Writer RAPID CITY — United States Attorney Brendan Johnson brings a new and refreshing take on how to deal with crime in Indian country, he recently sat down with Native Sun News to share some of his ideas. The son of the long time Native American advocate Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD), Brendon Johnson the current US attorney for the District of South Dakota has taken a hands on approach to dealing with issues of crime on reservations in South Dakota. “I have been in this job for three and a half years and I have grown attached to Pine Ridge. It’s a very important place to me personally,” said Johnson. “I have spent more time in Pine Ridge than any other US attorney in recent history,” he added. The time that he has spent on the reservation has not been solely for the purpose of investigating crimes or gathering evidence. Johnson unlike his predecessors has invested a significant amount of energy attempting to establish relationships with people living on the reservation and attempting to gain a better understanding of Native American culture. He has gone in to the community to meet with youth, spent a night patrolling with tribal police, and has even attended a sweat lodge ceremony. “I am very appreciative of all of the time I have spent on the reservation and of understanding the proud culture and history of the tribes in SD. I don’t think you can gain that appreciation and respect if you are spending all your time in the federal courthouse,” said Johnson. Like his father, Brendan Johnson has quickly established himself as an advocate for Indian country. In many circles he has become known for his vocal support of the highly politicized Violence Against Women Act that has recently stalled in the United States House of Representatives. The failure to pass VAWA has been attributed to opposition to the expansion of tribal jurisdiction that is included in the senate’s version of the act that would allow non-Native offenders to be prosecuted by tribal courts. “A lot of people do not support VAWA and I do support it,” said Johnson “There are two reasons why I support VAWA. One, if a non-Indian commits a domestic violence offense on one of our reservations in South Dakota, and the victim and the witness have to travel a long distance to the Federal court house the result is we lose too many of those cases. I would rather see tribes be able to prosecute non-Indians for domestic violence offenses,” he said. The second reason why Johnson is a major supporter of VAWA is an indicator of the direction he would like to see tribal courts to move in the future. “The second reason I support VAWA is it once again demonstrates the importance of our tribes to hire legal professionals for their prosecutors and defense lawyers and when they do it allows them to increase their sovereignty,” said Johnson. Surprisingly Johnson’s goal is not to simply fill federal penitentiaries with Native American offenders. Part of what make him unique compared to previous United States attorneys is that he is an advocate for both the strengthening of tribal courts and for the expansion of tribal sovereignty. “One of the things that is important to me is the law enforcement structure of Pine Ridge. I would like to see Pine Ridge be able to prosecute more of their own cases… instead of having them brought in to the federal system,” said Johnson. In addition to supporting legislation like the Violence Against Women Act, he has also thrown his support behind the implementation of the Tribal Law and Order Act which also strengthens tribal courts and potentially tribal sovereignty. Johnson feels however that there are some things that tribes must do in order to be able to handle the additional responsibility for tribal judicial systems. “If we are going to see long term progress in Pine Ridge’s court system we need to have a separation of powers, we need to have some stability,” Johnson said. “Hopefully with time Pine Ridge can implement the Tribal Law and Order Act, and what that will allow them to do is that it will allow them to keep many of their cases from going in to the federal system. It is something in the future as U.S. attorney that I defiantly would like to see,” he added. (Contact Brandon Ecoffey at staffwriter2@nsweekly.com)
Join the Conversation
